you want someone who would average 30? I

want someone who can come in and take more shots away from this.

I think there's a totem pole argument to have on the scoring list.

So the guy that I always bring up when I have these larger questions about Detroit, he's obviously unavailable because he just made it to the Raptors, was a Kawhi Leonard, right? Like older guy, yes, but a guy who just consistently scores at a high level, high efficiency.

Like Cade would still be the engine on that team.

Let's say somehow they got their hands on Kawhi and then you didn't have John Collins and a bunch of other guys.

you would still have Kate Cunningham with the keys to the entire team he would be the engine he would run the show kawaii would be the guy who takes the more efficient shots who is capable of going out and giving you 28 per game on what a true shooting percentage in the low to mid 60s um and and that doesn't take anything away from Kate because then he has that player alongside him who can actually produce at that level I just think it's a lot of a lot to ask for Kate Cunningham because I don't think his skill set necessarily is of a high volume score who can also support high efficiency.

huge

right.

Our next team after that would be the new Orleans Pelicans who are also mine.

Yep.

Look, The plan for the Pelican.

The question for the Pelicans is what the WTF, what's the, what's the plan here? Because I know that we can oversimplify things when we zoom out and say, how are you not starting Derek queen and Jeremiah fears, but seriously, what's the plan here? Because if, if the plan is to win a bunch of games and you want to start Zion with Eve's Meecy, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy, and Dejounte Murray, um, I get it.

But then what are you doing with your bench rotation? Look at Benedict Matherin, Jordan, Jeremiah Fears, and Derek Queen are all guys who prefer to operate with the ball in their hands.

And so how are you making that work? What does this defense look like? And also, if you're going with the veteran-heavy starting five or you're trying to win games, isn't the...

i

Right

... is locked to close.

And then you can mix and match with your bigs.

Is, are you, is Jrue Holiday gonna be in there? I assume Toumani Camara, you'd want him in there, though, as well.

So I think it depends on what the other two players are gonna be around those two and Deni.

But to just have three guys who can make plays off the dribble, and one of which who's just still apparently a dead eye shooter in, in Damian Lillard, that would go a long way to, I think, helping their crunch time offense.

It's m- it's more the question of how is it handled, like, diplomatically or politically.

Right

So what would you like to take as your first overall pick here in today's draft? And I'll give you a little, you know, we don't have, we can't use that official draft music due to copyright, but I'll give you a little bongos here before you take your first

pick.

The draft big bongos.

i'm gonna take with the number one overall pick in the knicks biggest storylines heading into and for the regular season i'm taking the extensions so will cat will josh hart will deuce mcbride sign extensions and i think this is an important pick because one if cat doesn't sign an extension none of these guys are getting extensions he feels like the first domino that needs to fall and then if you do sign cat to an extension what is it how are they going to view it josh hart or deuce mcbride if they then don't get an extension if none of them get extensions that's going to be a storyline throughout the rest of the season there are free agency has changed a bunch but there would be i would i think there'll probably be two or three teams i mean the clippers love cap space they have no draft picks uh we know that the kings have no idea what they're doing and they might have cap space So those are two teams that you could easily envision throwing Carl Anthony Towns a max four-year deal.

I'm sure he doesn't want to play for either of them.

He said he wants to stay with the Knicks.

But that becomes a storyline.

I think in year two, with the proof of concept, like you like to say at the title, I think this is going to be a smoother ride, and I think we're going to see more... of this cat at the hub do you think we'll see it at the level of the postseason or a little bit between last year and this year because it's going to be very interesting

Could the third center spot actually be solved right now, or do we wait till February still?

still?I would, I think that it, they'll probably be looking towards February as the real answer.

But I find Eubanks certainly interesting, uh, as, like, a stopgap in the interim.

And also you were talking about some of the, uh, workout videos that was posted.

What's interesting about him, and it dovetails nicely with what John was saying before, Drew Eubanks was kind of working on things for the most part that he would do in a game, where it was, like, one dribble stuff.

He's not, like, trying to bring the ball up the floor, like John had said before.

Uh, if, like, if you w- you don't wanna see Mitchell Robinson doing that, you certainly don't wanna see Drew Eubanks doing that.

I, I would love to see the team stay together.

Danny, you got any questions for Rick?

Yeah.

I was, I was gonna ask you, Rick, is there like a moment from this season with this team or even on the championship run itself that maybe we don't know about that really sticks, sticks with you even now? Like, 'cause we saw, we saw the comebacks, the OG tipping, the, the emotion afterwards.

But is there like a moment that, whether you realized, "Oh," like, "this is gonna happen.

This team is gonna win it all," or just something that sticks with you that maybe fans don't, don't really know about right now?

He-

You're talking about a mic drop ...

he, I, John, I don't remember if you did see this, but we're trying to get him back.

So Dan, your thoughts on the timing of that and sharing some of what you said, uh, in that article.

Yeah, I think we're all fascinated by what the number will end up being if he signs an extension, but I think one of the fundamental questions that needs to be asked, are the Knicks more concerned about lowering what he's making the, the season after this one, as of now, which is that $61 million player option? Or are they more concerned about, well, can we get him at an even lower number in 2028, 2029, when we assume Jalen Brunson is gonna be beginning his next deal, and if he's not gonna take another discount, that dude is gonna get paid.

He'll be over 60 million at that point.

And I think it's flown under the radar a little bit.

I don't know if it's because some people still believe that Jalen Brunson will just take another discount, which that dude is just wired differently, and I'm sure Rick Brunson will get into that next week.

So I won't put anything past him.

But after the sacrifice or the concession that he made in his past extension, if you assume that he is going to get a max, and you want to keep this core together for as long as possible, is it worth having Karl-Anthony Towns at that player option number next year, and then maybe it costs you, okay, we know Deuce McBride isn't coming back.

But it just kinda shows me that even though the Knicks have a lotta guards, they have a lotta wings, like, they're trying to double down on what they have and maybe trust some of these guys to play more five.

It really, really does when everyone knows their role.

It's also giving him more of those types of touches, whether, yeah, in the post would be great, but just even if he's running handoffs or just working from the top of the key, I like that it takes pressure off of Jalen Brunson.

And we saw that defenses, maybe they'll adjust to it a little bit, but it was almost as if they didn't know that he could do things away from the ball, not just make shots, but move away from the ball.

And I just like that for him, just a different... type of style for him and i think it probably makes his job a little bit easier overall i also liked when it seemed like you know towns maybe that's part of losing the weight too because he could turn the corner like if he's faking a hand off and like because he's already one of the most efficient drivers of basketball now if you're adding a little bit more on-ball speed to that that just makes him even more dangerous and the other thing i thought flew under the radar a little bit was when they were running more of the offense through towns defenses the way they had to cover him worrying about jail and brunson we talk a lot about where we've all probably talked a lot about the lack of McHale bridges, rim pressure in the half court.

He was just able to get some open close range looks by doing some basic movements off the ball, having that club.

I mean, to John's point, just having the club in your bag is such a weapon and it makes not only jail and Brunson's life easier, but it takes pressure off of, we've had the discussion of who is the Knicks is secondary ball handler.

Remember when Tyler Cole needed to be the answer.

So your thoughts on that article, there's a lot of fun stuff and any other things you took from that.

vehemently

yeah so it's like basically their version of claiming that the 2024 election was still a 2020 election was stolen this is what this feels like there is they called the podcast claims baseless and you go through that document you have your own employees basically admitting that you did it in lawrence frank took notes on a criminal conspiracy they or the nba's version of it and my favorite part to the last thing that i took away is steve ballmer doing that interview on ESPN, being so mad, at least publicly, about the results here, there's in that document where he basically admits that, yeah, well, like, we gave Aspiration this deal with the forum because they were going to blow up the Kawhi sponsorship.

He admitted that.

And so it's just like how if we're even focusing just on that, how do you argue against it? And they can't.

And yet they're still just coming out and they're they're angry about it.

The only real problem I had in terms of the the punishment is that I understand why the NBA went the route they did with Kawhi Leonard, because you don't want to get the players union involved.

That opens up arbitration.

So why don't you tell the audience viewing how you feel about what Detroit did this offseason and what their development and their chances going to the finals could look like?

Availability and eligibility vary by state.

Yeah, so the Miles McBride extension talk is interesting, 'cause there was the soft deadline.

I think we might have discussed it a week or two ago.

Um, and I've seen a lot of it being framed as he can't be traded now if he signs an extension, and there are extend and trade rules that he could still fit into.

Uh, they're a little Draconian, but unless he's gonna make 120% of the league's estimated salary in his next deal, uh, he can still be traded if he doesn't sign an extension that's longer than three years.

He's not getting...

We've seen with these smaller guards who don't...

Uh, not in the slightest.

I think there's still a lot of wrinkles to get through, but I still, you know, I think because of the history too, 90s, like I still fear the, fear the Pacers here a little bit.

I think you're smart too as well.

They're another team where I might feel people might be sleeping on Detroit a little bit.

If Tyrese Haliburton's 90% of Tyrese Haliburton, I think people are probably sleeping on the Pacers.

And one of the most insane things to do is if you just watch what the Pacers do off the ball in the half court offensively, your eyes will like start to water from exhaustion.

And that poses a challenge to a ton of teams.

But what Stephen said before I think is salient here.

Mm-hmm

Mm-hmm.

Because that's the risk you kinda take.

'Cause if you wait too long to sign with the Knicks, are they gonna use up their two-way spots? Are they gonna give, you know, a rookie minimum guaranteed contract to another player? Um, they clearly like Tyler Nicole.

The three-point volume, what do we know about that in Summer League? It's one of the stickiest stats to the NBA, and so someone who gets them up like that, to have him in the building would be great.

Um, I'm just curious as to what he's actually gonna decide, because as John mentioned, if you're gonna be able to make millions in college, I understand the appeal of delaying it another year, especially if you don't think you're gonna play for this team.

But I can't, and he knows this way better than, than I would, like I can't...

How do you quantify being around a team with championship pedigree from the jump, and being able to practice against those guys? I would imagine that that's like, yeah, in college maybe he, on the floor, learns more or can improve more than he would in the G League.

[laughs]

Mm

... over money.

And so that's kind of like an emotional hit as it stands.

Drummond should be a fine replacement, but that's a presence that's been in the locker room for forever, and so you don't wanna mess with that too much.

And the only other thing I could add is that when you're looking at, you know, Moussa Dioubate would be a great fit on this roster.

He's in the final year of his contract, and so you already couldn't pay Mitchell Robinson.

Karl-Anthony Towns is a player option for next year, and is extension eligible.

Absolutely.

I'm a huge NBA Cup guy, so yeah.

Well, look, the other thing there too is that I think one of the more popular criticisms now I've seen is they're gonna be less than the sum of their parts in Philly.

And there is data to support, like, when you look at a lot of some of these, like, Kevin Durant era Phoenix Suns line-ups, you put too many of these wants to be on the ball creators on a team is that sometimes it can have a negative impact.

But that still brings me back to what we discussed, I think it was at the beginning of the podcast.

All of these guys, now including Joel Embiid, have played differently, like, to enough, like, points where you are confident that they will be looking to adapt.

And we mentioned the recruiting thing before.

They're probably willing to adapt now too because why would you go out and re- recruit LeBron otherwise? And so that's the thing that I think is gonna be different, where even if you look at similarly structured line-ups or maybe even formations and they weren't as good as you thought, um, I just think that there's more evidence with basically every player here that they're able to play different styles.

They can't defend anybody with that lineup, yeah.

Yeah

... and in your rotation.

If this was just a binary proposition between, oh, they didn't need to resign Clarkson and they can bring in Kyle and then they can keep Nicole as well, maybe that's worth discussing.

I'm not looking at moving a McBride just to make room for one of these guys, though.

I think the Knicks already have...

You look at, if you consider Jordan Clarkson a wild card, Andre Drummond is certainly a wild card.

Um, Mo Diawara, after the Summer League before his, his finger injury, he's gonna be more of a wild card with the rotation.

Mm-hmm

Okay.

But if you look at the other stuff that they've done, like Dean Wade and Anfernee Simons for the total of the mid-level exception, I think that was really smart business by them, and this team has a chance.

I mean, like they needed shooting, so Simons there just as he can work off the dribble, he can work off the ball.

And then Dean Wade as kind of the combo forward defender, and you have Jaylen Brown now in addition to EJ Edgecombe.

Um, the backup five spot might be a little bit iffy at this point, although Ariel Huck 40 might be able to give them some solid minutes.

But this is a team that I think is probably more balanced than people are crediting.

My biggest concern for them is whether they'll get up enough threes, and I think if you bake in some improvement from VJ Edgecombe, just between Tyrese Maxey and Simons alone, you probably do have enough shooting.

Yeah

Oh, boy

...

he was a little bit of an overpay.

It's honestly just impressive that they've looked at what happened in the playoffs this year and decided, "Well, what if we just didn't have any wings?" On this team.

Uh, so I, I'm still trying to figure out what's going on there because they needed, they need athleticism, they needed wing defense.

Uh, and not only did they not get a lot of those things, they got defense in Walker Kessler, but when you look on the perimeter, they're probably worse defensively because you were the team that lost Marcus Smart and then gave Collin Sexton more money than Marcus Smart got.

It's just a bizarre, and I would just say absolutely damaging process.

Who's the, who's the team that you've liked the most? Who, who, who, who has won on the Dan Favale Bleacher Report, I'm sure it's coming, uh, report card so far?

How did the, the Lakers with LeBron and, and certainly the Warriors who are on the tail end, we'll see what they look to do, how do you see the next couple years playing out for the Western Conference? Or, is, who is the team to beat going into next season?

I think it's still the Thunder, if you assume that Jalen Williams is going to come back healthy and not deal with those hamstring issues.

And if it's not the Thunder, then we immediately know who it is because of what the Spurs just did.

And I think it'll be interesting to watch the battle to kind of take up the mantle below them or who's best built to challenge them.

You mentioned, you know, the Warriors and the Lakers have clear tent pole stars in the door, which is huge when you look at Luka, when you look at Steph.

But you mentioned the word just athleticism, and when you're looking at the athleticism and the depth and the versatility, teams like the Lakers, the Warriors, even kind of the Minnesota Timberwolves at this point, I think without making some type of big move or maybe some home run draft acquisition, I don't know how they emerge as viable challengers to either of those two teams over the next few years.

Houston might be interesting, but they still feel like they're more than just getting Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams back away from really getting in the door.

Do, do you expect maybe a cagier off-season because teams are not gonna be as keen to, to be putting these draft picks in here, knowing that draft picks are kind of the only way to get good in the modern NBA? Or has lottery reform now opened up teams to do crazier stuff? What's your read on that situation?

What'd you make of the May to the Mavs move?

I, I found it interesting in that, that they were also, you know, they took a, they were trying to talk to Jon Scheyer of Duke as well.

And so it seems as if they went into this really wanting to prioritize, didn't maybe necessarily have to be a first-time NBA coach, but someone who would be known more so for their player development.

Which I think you look at their pick this year, having Cooper Flagg in the door there, um, Derek Lively, if he's going to be healthy, that does make sense.

I do wonder what it portends just transactionally for them the rest of the summer.

They have a lot of just interesting guys on their team, not just a Kyrie Irving, but a P.J. Washington, a Daniel Gafford, a Naji Marshall.

Uh, and I'd be curious, does this make it more likely that they move those guys? Or are you looking at, again- I think we're also trying to figure out how do these teams react to lottery reform, and also if you're the Mavericks and you don't control your own first round pick again, I think until 2031, is there the temptation to keep these vets and try and win games? I think this is at least a clear signal to me they will emphasize more of the player development aspect of their, their build around Cooper Flagg.

Do, do you expect maybe a cagier off-season because teams are not gonna be as keen to, to be putting these draft picks in here, knowing that draft picks are kind of the only way [chuckles] to get good in the modern NBA? Or has lottery reform now opened up teams to do crazier stuff? What's your read on that situation?

When you look at the Spurs, is it just, the case for them winning the finals, is it just Wemby? Where else does your mind go?

I think it immediately goes towards, they have a bunch of these dynamic ball handlers where if it's Dylan Harper, De'Aaron Fox, even Steph Castle and Devin Vassell a little bit.

If all those guys are healthy and you're just able to get downhill against a Knicks team that has not needed to face any, any squad that has even remotely as many potential on ball weapons, in addition to needing to plan around Victor Wembanyama.

I think that's the other thing other than...

I mean, like, Wemby's just this unsolvable thing.

There's no, I know people are talking about like, "Oh, OG Anunoby will be the Wemby stopper." There is no Wemby stopper.

There's just no such thing.

Mm-hmm.

So, leaning into it.

Yeah, they were probably about where I was higher on them than most.

They put up, I thought they were going to advance in the playoffs for a hot minute or two, and Scottie Barnes just morphing into an offensive megastar during that was excellent.

Before we dig into all the various topics we need to talk about, let's get to their offseason vitals.

So they enter the offseason, I think it's about $6.8 million below the tax.

That includes 13 players and their first-round pick.

It does not include, Mort, I am sorry to say, Sandro Mamic-Kausvili has a player option.

I don't even know what he's going to get.

Mm-hmm

... a couple minutes, which I know is your favorite thing to do.

Um, they enter... [laughs] They're kind of expensive for a team that just wasn't very good, but they do have a lot of guys on their roster that I like.

But they're about $10.1 million beneath the luxury tax.

Um, that leaves them roughly 19.2 million below the first apron.

They, that's with 14 players projected in there, including some team options, except for Kavon Looney's $8 million team option.

I'm assuming that will not be picked up, but hey, we'll see.

Yeah.

I have to ask you, as somebody who is not only not a Nuggets fan, but somebody who actively hates the Nuggets and never watches their games, and that, by the way, goes for all the other franchises since that's what national NBA writers do, how do you feel about the optics and the actual impact of the moves the new Nuggets front office has done so far in the off-season and trade deadline?

Honestly, I think the Cam Johnson move when you're, it looked better in the off-season than it does now, and that's speaking as someone who wasn't, just wasn't sure where they landed on it.

Um, this is something that'll have to play out a matter of course, but you, you...

The Spencer Jones thing is that, you know, the, them going about the tax, maybe I just, I can't bring myself to care 'cause you knew it was gonna happen when you look at how close they were to ducking it.

Um, but they did.

Part of the, they kind of played up that, "Oh, like we're not really hard capped anywhere.

We could do whatever we want." And then it's, all right, well, you duck the tax anyway.

It starts with the Kings because they're, they're everybody's favorite.

How do you feel about that part?

Yeah, I mean, that's a real risk just because I think next year, if you include Jonas Valanciunas' money, which is obviously fungible, they're within $2 million right now going into the second apron.

And when you get into filling out the rest of the roster, but basically paying Peyton Watson, how expensive of a team are you willing to be? And so even if you remove, let's just remove, I don't know what you're doing to back up center them, but if you take away the $10 million for Jonas Valanciunas, I don't think that a $10 million contract is probably not going to cut it for Peyton Watson.

I'd be very curious to see what the actual numbers were in the negotiations, just to see how far apart they were.

What I think will help the Nuggets is that restricted free agency has been kind of a drag the past few years.

And while I know the big number going around is 10 teams are going to have cap space this summer, I'll be pretty shocked if it ends up being even half that many.

There's just going to be things that change.

And if you take into the account that the Dario Saric for Jonas Valanciunas swap was only possible after this move, and with all the new information we have now, how would you assess these trades today?

(laughs)

... him doing more away from the ball.

They have him doing some, like, kind of a similar role that New York had, but they seem to appreciate it more given how much Anthony Edwards can struggle against double teams.

So it's cool to see him sort of...

We very rarely get to look back on trades as like, "Oh, maybe that made sense for both teams," and I think there's still a lot to play out for Minnesota and New York.

But it's cool to see, like, kind of everybody...

I mean, Jonathan DiVincenzo is not hitting shots right now, but it's cool to maybe see this potentially working out for, for both sides.

How are we feeling about the Pacers, Dan?